Improvement in fasteners for meeting-rails of sashes



.ROSS &- A; H. PORTMAN'N. er for Me-etingfiails of Sashes. No. 212,987.

A. Q Fasten Patented Mar 4,1879.

NITED TATES PATENT FFICE ABBOTT o. ROSS AND AUGUSTUS H. FORTMANN, or CINCINNATI, OHIO, SAID ROSS ASSIGNOR T0 AUGUSTUS H. FORTMANN.

IMPROVEMENT IN FASTENERS FOR MEETING-RAILS OF SAVSHESK Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 212,987, dated March 4, 1879; application filed September 28, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ABBOTT Q. ROSS and AUGUSTUS H. FORTMANN, both of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented a new and Improved Sash-Fastener; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, which will enable others skilled in the art to which our invention relates to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figures 1 and 2 represent perpective views of fastenings embodying our invention; and Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the device shown in Fig. 2.

Similar letters refer to similar parts.

Our invention relates to that class of sashfasteners in which the latch is pivoted to a plate on the top rail of the lower sash, and provided with a pivoted handle, by which it is turned and locked in place when engaged with the catch on the lower rail of the upper sash. In this class of fasteners it is very desirable that some means should be provided for looking the latch in place when fastening two sashes, so that it cannot be tampered with from the outside of a window, and to lock it along the lower sash when the two are unfastened, in order that it shall not be casually turned within the path of the upper sash to interfere with its movements in raising and lowering, and become broken if the upper sash should be suddenly lowered or the two Sashes moved past each other.

Various means have been resorted to for the accomplishment of these objects, but in nearly every instance it has been thought necessary to employ one or more springs to hold the handle to its place, or to act upon the latch itself. In certain other cases the spring has been dispensed with, but the handle only locked the latch in one position, to wit, when engaged with the catch, and not when swung round to unfasten the two sashes. In the latter position, therefore, it was liable to be displaced by jars or casual blows, and consequently in danger of becoming broken by the moving sashes. V

Our invention is designed to avoid the use of springs, which are expensive and in constant danger of becoming broken or disarranged, and to form both locks for the latch by means of stops or catches, which are positive and non-yieldin g, and therefore render the fastenings stronger and more secure; and our invention consists in the combination of devices for accomplishing these results, which we will now proceed to describe, and point on in the claim. a 4

In the accompanying drawings, Arepresents a locking-plate of cast-metal, screwed or otherwise fastened to the upper surface of the meeting-rail of the lower sash, and O is the latch, pivoted near its rear end to the locking-plate, so as to turn freely, and provided at its front end with a lip, D, to engage with a catch, E, on the meeting-rail of the upper sash.

The pivot F, by which the latch is attached to the locking-plate, may be eitherriveted in place or made in the form of a screw to pass through the latch and screw into the plate;

but in whichever way made, it forms simply a pivot, upon which the latch oscillates, and is unprovided with a Spring. For this reason it can be easily and cheaply made without extra fitting or drilling, and is strong and substaniial.

G is the handle, pivoted or hinged to the rear end of the latch, and provided with a stop, G, which, when the handle is swung up, comes in contact with the latch, and prevents the handle from striking the pivot. The handleis cast with a short stud, h, on its under side, which, when the latch is engaged with the catch E to fasten the two sashes together, drops into an opening or hole, i, cast in the rear side of the locking-plate, and when swung open to unfasten the sashes drops into a corresponding holeyi, cast in the rightof the plate.

By this means a cheap and secure lock is formed for the latch to fasten it effectually in an open or closed position. The handle readil v drops into its looks by gravity, and does away entirely with the expense and mechanical disadvantages arisingfrom the use of springs.

A very important advantage arising from this mode of construction, in addition to the cheapness of the device, consists in the fact that the locking-plate and catch can be placed in any position upon sash-rails of different Widths, and that therefore only one size of fastener is necessary; whereas,'if the handle should be made to fall over the edge of the lower sash-rail, as shown in the patent granted to J. B. Morris, July 2, 1878, No. 205,568, sashrails of different widths would require different lengths of locking -plates and latches. The device also possesses the merit of being entirely above the lower sash-rail, and therefore inaccessible from the outside of the window, excepting by means of an instrument forced through the rail itself. Its security is therefore materially increased.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is-- In a sash-lock, the combination, with the pivoted latch C, the handle 0, hinged to the latch, and the locking-plate A, of a stud, h, on the under side of the handle, and the two holes 45 i in the locking-plate, the former, '1', for locking the handle when the latch is engaged with the catch E, and the latter, i, for locking the handle when the latch is disengaged from the catch and swung around parallel with the sash-rail, substantially as described.

In testimon; of which invention we hereunto set our hands.

ABBOTT Q. BOSS. AUGUSTUS H. FORTMANN.

Witnesses L. H. HOSEA, E. A. ELLswoRTH. 

